A RARE decades-old first edition book could sell for £40,000 even though its spine was destroyed - because of a squiggle inside.
The dusty 1937 presentation copy of JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit was found inside the library at St Mary's Abbey in Oulton, Staffs.
And it was signed by Ronald, the moniker given to the famous author by his inner circle.
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien was known by his middle name to his family and friends and only signed his real name for his inner circle.
Wiseman was the sister of Tolkien's close school friend Christopher Wiseman and a nun at 19th century St Mary's Abbey in Oulton, Staffs, which was also run as a small boarding school.
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The abbey has since been turned into a care home and after 87 years there, the book is going under the hammer at London-based auctioneers Bonhams.
Only 1,500 copies were published in the first run, with this copy, in its original dust cover, set to spark a bidding war.
It is one of six books Tolkien signed for Margaret that are in the sale, which also includes a first edition set of the three volumes of Lord of the Rings, which have an estimate of £20,000.
He would normally sign with his initials, so it is pretty unusual for him to sign a book in any other way, especially just his first name, he only did that for family or close friends.
Simon Roberts
The Two Towers is signed even more informally than The Hobbit with "M from R", with Tolkien's full signature and the date underneath.
Simon Roberts, from Bonhams' books department, said: "He would normally sign with his initials, so it is pretty unusual for him to sign a book in any other way, especially just his first name, he only did that for family or close friends.
"Very little is known about Margaret, she was the sister of his college friend Christopher Wiseman and a Benedictine nun at Oulton Abbey. He must have visited her and taken these books with him. He gave her presentation copies of his books over a long period.
"The association with the abbey continued with his son so it was clearly an influential place for him. Tolkien was very much influenced by Catholicism.
"An inscribed copy of Tolkien is a very rare and valuable thing and The Hobbit is the rarest of his first editions. This one is actually in very poor condition - the spine is damaged and there's numbers on it so we think they must have put them in the Abbey library and people borrowed them.
"We think it may even have been in the abbey school so children might have got hold of it - it's a miracle it survived actually. It's been at the abbey since 1937.
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"Signed first editions of The Hobbit don't turn up very often and when they do they can make an awful lot of money. We have put a very conservative estimate on this one - £20-40,000 - because of the condition issues.
"We don't know if whoever buys it will keep it as it is or try to restore it."
Over 100 million copies of The Hobbit have been sold, while the Lord of the Rings trilogy, published in 1954 and 1955, have shifted 150 million copies.
Tolkien died in 1973.
Also up for auction are signed first editions of Farmer Giles of Ham (1949), Tree Leaf (1964), Smith of Wootton Major (1967), and The Road Goes Ever On (1968).
The sale takes place on June 20.
